“If I had to get rid of all my other curriculums and keep just one—this would be it.”
Amber Freismuth, Community Care and Preschool, Beaver Dam, WI
in collaboration with
Learn about the Kindness Curriculum—including the direct benefits of teaching mindfulness in a classroom setting.
Watch the ways students learn mindfulness by paying attention to their senses, breath, and body movements.
Explore how students recognize and work with their emotions, learning to care for themselves and others.
The Kindness Curriculum is a free 24-lesson guide designed to help pre-k and kindergarten students attend to their emotions, self-regulate, and care for themselves and others. Developed and researched by the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Kindness Curriculum has shown to have a positive impact on academic performance, peer relationships, and teacher-perceived social competence.
PBS Wisconsin and the Center for Healthy Minds have teamed up to share more about the Kindness Curriculum through the video series Kindness in the Classroom. Watch the videos for an introduction to the foundational concepts of mindfulness in a classroom setting. Then, check out the additional resources to hear insights directly from teachers, and even practice mindfulness yourself!
You can download the Kindness Curriculum, read about standards alignment, and learn about the research behind the curriculum.
Hear directly from educators about their experiences implementing the Kindness Curriculum in their classrooms.
Practice bringing mindfulness into your life by participating in our short, guided mindfulness exercise.
Curriculum
The Kindness Curriculum, available in both Spanish and English, has been shown to help students self-regulate, improve peer relationships, develop a stronger sense of empathy and kindness, and positively impact academic performance and social competence.
Standards
The Kindness Curriculum addresses the Social Emotional Learning Competencies from the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards in the areas of Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Focus Attention, Social Awareness, and Relationship Skills. We’ve also included cross-references to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Core Competencies.
Executive Producer: Megan Monday
Producer: Ryan Hendricks
Production Assistants: Mia Forslund, Luisa DeVogel, Ian Glodich, Hobbes Legault, Kurt Kaspar, Brandon Ribordy
Videography: Ryan Hendricks, Colin Crowley, James Donovan
Art Director: Philip Ashby
Animation and Motion Graphics: Amanda Roslansky, Steve Dorchester
Motion Graphic Support: Ian Glodich
Graphic Design: Vicki Pierce
Sound Design: Beaux Neylon
Captioning: Vicki Way Kipp
Website Development: John Vieth, Norman Cuaño
Center for Healthy Minds Specialists: Lisa Thomas Prince, Lori Gustafson
Curriculum Creation and Support: Center for Healthy Minds (University of Wisconsin–Madison), Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc.
Participating Teachers: Marci Speich, Renae Henning, Amber Freismuth, Megan Peterson
Mindfulness Meditation Guide: Sarah Jacobs
Participating Schools: Glenn Stephens Elementary (Madison, Wisconsin), Community Care and Preschool (Beaver Dam, Wisconsin), Phillips Elementary School (Phillips, Wisconsin)
For more information visit the Center for Healthy Minds at UW-Madison
Special thanks to Nancy Gunzberg for her generous support of this project
Additional support from the Friends of PBS Wisconsin’s Focus Fund for Education and the Timothy William Trout Education Innovation Lab